Snow moving implement



y 7, 1956 E. B. MEYER snow MOVING IMPLEMENT Filed Nov. 29, 1952 INVENTOR. 1F 0 wmw 5. Me YER nited States Patent SNOW MOVING IMPLEMENT Edward B. Meyer, Chagrin Falls, Ohio Application November 29, 1952, Serial No. 323,215

3 Claims. (CI. 37-44) The invention relates to an automobile-operated snow plow or snow moving implement which, as one of the objects, can be coupled with automobile constructions of widely varying design without requiring any rigid or complicated connectors or special adapters such as are generally accepted as necessary in order to enable elfectual operation for clearing snow.

Another object is to provide an auto-bumper-propelled snow plow which can be used interchangeably with practically all modern day automobiles, requiring only adjustment in position of portions of the snow plow to meet variations in bumper design and height above the track.

The above indicate the principal objects. Others will become apparent from the following description of the preferred mechanism.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the invention in the form of a V-type snow moving implement or plow;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the implement according to Fig. 1, showing only the metal parts of the construction; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken as indicated by the line 3--3 on Fig. 1.

Elements of the implement construction to be described bear important relationships to well known elements of motor vehicles or automobiles, particularly the bumper and chassis thereof, and in view of the mutual rigidity of those elements and indeterminate nature of their limits the bumper, or at least its supporting bars, will be considered herein as a part of the chassis, that is the springsupported framework of the vehicle.

The implement 1, as shown, comprises a blade and frame assembly forming a V-type plow consisting of forwardly converging rigidly interconnected identical blades or blade units or moldboards 2 and a rearwardly disposed connecting frame and pusher unit 3.

The blades or blade units 2 are formed principally of relatively light gage sheet metal, preferably with central flat panel portions 4 and compound upper and lower flanges 5 and 6. The main surfaces of the flanges diverge forwardly so that each blade is, in efieet, a shallow, wide bottomed trough whose shape is apparent from comparison of Figs. 2 and 3. The compound flanging consists in turning of the upper marginal portions of the generally rectangular blanks from which the blades are formed rearwardly and upwardly as at 5a and then rearwardly and downwardly as at 5b; and the lower marginal portions rearwardly and downwardly as at 6a and then rearwardly and upwardly as at 6b.

As to the lower flange 6, the construction results in a skid effect all along the bottom of the entire blade portion of the plow. When used on pavement, sidewalk and other surfaces such a blade does not require shoes in order to ride over minor irregularities (e. g. cracks and joints with relatively adjacent surface portions at somewhat different levels). Flange portions 6b form a reverse skid eflEect in backing up, the same as the portions 6a do when theplow is driven forwardly.

As shown in Fig. 3, the top or main surfaces of the flanges 6 make an acute angle with the normally trailing flange portions 6a, thus providing an effectual snow cutting or shearing edge at 60 (Fig. 3) all along each blade 2.

The sheet metal members described above as forming the principal parts of the blades or blade units 2 are rigidly secured, by welding, to respective heavy gage metal nose plates 7 of generally triangular form (as viewed in Fig. 3), and the plates, in turn, are detachably secured face-to-face by suitable fasteners 7, e. g. bolts and nuts, so that the two blade units 2 constitute a substantially rigid sub-assembly. That subassembly is self-supporting on a horizontal surface. In order to prevent the described blade assembly from being tipped over forwardly when the applied pushing force is rather high, and, further, to make the assembly ride easily over rough track surfaces, a caster 1d of suitable construction is attached to one of the nose plates 7 (see especially Fig. 3), and skids 12 are welded to the normally trailing ends of the blade units 2. The skids 12 could be pivoted so as to act as casters, but that has not been found necessary.

The pusher unit 3, as will be described, is readily detachable from the blade units 2 and those units are detachable from each other. For enabling storage and portability in relatively small spaces (e. g. gargage, or vehicle body), the blade units 2 can be hinged together (detachably if desired) as along the rear vertical margins of the plates 7 so that the blade units can be folded together (not illustrated) and stored in parallel relationship to the pusher unit 3. Such hinge construction would usually serve in place of some of the fasteners 7'; and, at least in light duty implements, can be used in lieu of such fasteners.

The pusher frame 3 comprises, as shown, a relatively light sheet metal structure generally of L-shape with an upright panel portion 15, bottom panel 16 integral therewith and an inclined ramp portion or member 17 joined as by welding to both portions 15 and 16 for approximately the entire length of said portions so that the base of the pusher frame is a hollow tube of triangular cross section, hence extremely stiff and strong. Additional stifiness is secured by flanges 15a and 17a on the two sheeet metal members.

The ends of the frame 3 which are formed by panel portion 15 extend beyond the flange 15a thereof; and, for support of the frame on the blade units 2, uprights in the form of special Z-bar type vertically elongated brackets 20 are secured rigidly to the blades, and said ends of frame 3 are detachably secured to free co-planar flanges 21 of the respective brackets at selected ones of a series of evenly and fairly closely spaced holes 22 in the flanges 21 through matching holes in the frame ends as shown. That enables the frame 3 to be readily adjusted vertically at small increments and secured by bolts as illustrated, with the ramp member 17 at diiferent heights above the ground or track surface T on which the implement rests. The forward flanges 23 of the Z-bars which form the brackets 20 are oblique to the Webs of the Z-bars (see Fig. 1) so that those flanges can be secured, as by welding, in full face contact with the panels 4 of the blades.

Between the two ends of the upright panel portion 15 of the pusher frame 3, see Fig. 2, said panel 15 has two sets of holes 24 (e. g. evenly spaced horizontally), one pair of each set being indicated as occupied by detachable fasteners (bolts as shown) passing through flanges of short angles 25, the free flanges 26 of which extend rearwardly from the pusher frame 3. Thus the angles 25 can be adjusted and secured different distances apart along the pusher frame.

In propelling the snow plow, the motor vehicle chassis portions represented by broken lines in Figs. 1 and 3 as comprising main frame A, conventional bumper supporting bars B and bumper C supported by said bars bear the relationship to the implement indicated in those views.

Bumperettes or bumper guards D, pairs of which are now practically universal on automobiles (and which can be furnished with the snow plow for use on trucks) usually extend slightly below the bumper proper so as to serve as shoes or runners in contact with the ramp 17. In nearly every case the bumper and chassis frame A are elevated slightly by the ramp portion of the pusher frame 3 as the vehicle is driven into pushing contact with said frame. The bumperettes D lie operatively in guiding juxtaposi tion to the angles 25 in a manner tending to prevent excessive lateral. movement of the implement. That guiding, without material assistance by any stabilizing linkage such as described below, is suflicient to prevent lateral movement so long as the vehicle is driven in a generally forward direction (i. e. straight and at various angles as in turning).

Instead of providing for the making of direct contact between the bumper equipment and the metal parts of the snow plow, such as would be apt to damage the finish (e. g. chrome plating) of such equipment, cushion or guard strips or blocks are mounted on the pusher frame metal parts as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3 (omitted from Fig. 2). Thus the actual ramp surface 17b of the pusher frame is the top face of a wooden strip 20 which is coextensive with panel 17 fore and aft; a similar strip 31 is mounted on the upright panel 15 for frontal engagement by the bumperettes D as the plow is pushed forwardly, and pads 32 (wooden blocks as shown) are secured on the coadjacent faces of the free flanges of the angles for lateral abutment with the bumperettes. The wooden strip 31 is secured against panel 15 by the angles 25, through their fastening bolts, in the illustrated arrangement. The fasteners for strip are not illustrated.

The implement 1, in addition to the above features, requires only stabilization in direction laterally of the longitudinal axis of the propelling vehicle in order to accomplish eflicient track clearing. It does not require any rigid connection with the vehicle such as bumperoperated snow plow attachments have always required in the past. For such stabilization, links 35 are used, which, preferably, are in the form of chains (flexible links diagrammatically shown in Figs. 1 and 3) detachably secured to the vehicle chassis represented by frame A as at hook-like brackets 36 fastened by the forward securing bolts 37 of the bumper bars B, and to the implement pusher frame as at keyhole shaped openings 38, Fig. 1, in the ends of the ramp structure of the pusher fr ame. The stabilizing links 35 may of course be attached to any other rigid spring-supported parts of the vehicle body or directly to the bumper itself, for instance directly to the supporting bars in case those are quite long. Attachment of the links to the unsprung portions of the vehicle (e. g. front axle) is avoided mainly because of the relative inaccessibility of the unsprung parts, making ready attachment and detachment very difficult.

The chains 35 can and should have some initial slack in them so as to avoid undue strain on the chains and the chassis as the vehicle springs flex, and in case the vehicle and implement encounter relatively different levels of support.

Because the flexible links or chains 35 extend obliquely from the vehicle toward the implement 1, as viewed in Fig. 1,, the links may sometimes be alternately placed in tension and slacked as the implement tends to become disaligned with the vehicle in being pushed forwardly. Such tension is minimized by abutment of the bumpercttcs with the blocks or pads 32. Practically the only time the two chains are subjected materially to tension is when the vehicle is backed up. The downward inclination of the chains, as exhibited by Fig. 3, is of advantage in backing up, for thereby the ramp surface 17b tends to be maintained in snug contact with the bumper.

It will be apparent that the slight lifting of the forward end of the vehicle by the ramp surface 17b results in adding to the effective downward pressure on the rear portion of the plow, making sure that the rear portions of the blades 2 will scrape the track as cleanly as necessary. Also it will be apparent that the top surface of the flange portions 6 of the blades, through snow loading, maintain the front portions of the plow against the track. The caster 10 facilitates turning of the vehicle with the plow but its more important function, as already mentioned, is to prevent the front of the plow from tending to dig into the track, especially when the pusher frame is at one of its relatively high positions as enabled by the vertical adjustment holes 22, etc., on the uprights 20.

In the above description and in the claims, the relative terms: forwardly, rearwardly and the like, are used for convenience in order to avoid prolixity. The above described implement, without requiring any modification of it, is applicable to rear bumpers and running gear of automobiles and trucks for enabling snow clearing thereby while driven rearwardly. Stabilizing link attaching devices, functionally corresponding to those illustrated at 36, g 1 and 3, are pre er ly appl e to the r ar as well as to the front of the vehicle chassis for full contemplated adaption and use of the invention. Thus, since mounting of the implement in Working position requires so little work, and it is just as easy to apply it to one end of the vehicle as to the other, attempted driving over an uncleared track surface (as in backing out of a garage or dead-end parking space) can always be avoided without necessitating tedious, preparatory, hand shoveling of snow.

I claim;

1. A V-type snow plow assembly including two relatively convergent mouldboard or blade elements and a stiff frame element completing a rigid triangular structure, the frame element including a substantially rigid ramp having a forwardly and upwardly inclined surface for engagement by a motor Vehicle bumper, and means providing a generally upright, bumper-engaging surface forwardly of the ramp, whereby to enable the assembly to be shoved ahead of such vehicle by its bumper while the bumper exerts a downward force component on the rear portions of the assembly.

2. The snow plow according to claim 1 provided with plural element linkage capable of acting only in tension for attaching the frame element to a motor vehicle chassis.

3. A V-type snow plow assembly including two relatively convergent mouldboard or blade elements and a rigid connecting frame element, means on, said frame element adapted for engagement by a vehicle bumper for enabling the assembly to be pushed forwardly by a vehicle to, move snow, the connecting element having a forwardly and upwardly inclined ramp surface portion adapted for contact with such motor vehicle bumper in a manner to enable a relatively minor portion of the weight of the forward part of the vehicle to be supported by said assembly when the bumper is in contact with said means, and stabilizing linkage means for attachment of the assembly to such motor vehicle and to enable the assembly to be pulled backwardly when the vehicle is driven in reverse.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

